The Tragic Fall of the Family In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, the author creates a character called The Misfit who kills a family. The story begins with the family discussing where to travel on their vacation. The grandmother tries to tell the family that there is an escaped convict in Florida where they are travelling and that they should not go there. But instead the family does not listen to her and they are destined for tragedy. There are many elements that foreshadow the tragic events to come.
Rosaleen believes that Lily should just leave the topic alone and that she may discover something she just does not want to know. Rosaleen fears that Lily will be more hurt by her discoveries in finding her past that happy and relieved, “ ‘Maybe she was. I can’t say. I just know some things are better left alone.’ ‘What do you mean? That I shouldn’t find out what I can about my own mother?’ ‘What if—’ She paused and rubbed the back of her neck, ‘What if you find out something you don’t wanna know?’ " (Kidd, 100) Another controversial view studied by Emanuel states that Lily must confront the hardship of her mother’s death head on and that it may have a
John Wesley, Bailey's son, asks the grandmother, "If you don't want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?" (320). June Star replies that "She wouldn't stay home to be queen for a day," and goes on to say, "She wouldn't stay at home for a million bucks. Afraid she'd miss something. She has to go everywhere we go" (320).
This novel used many literary devices that contributed to the conflict; three of those literary devices being situational irony, foreshadowing, and diction. One of the literary devices presented in the novel is situational irony. Isabel brought up the fact that her best friend, Taylor, had been “begging her to bring her to Cousins forever and that she hated that they did not share everything—every moment and every experience (Han, 67).” This is an example of situational irony because although Taylor states that she wanted to “share every moment” (with who? ), she ended up forgetting the reason why she came to Cousins Beach. (It was) to be with Isabel, not Conrad, Jeremiah, or Steven.
“I just know you’re a good man! You’re not at all common!” This tells a lot about the grandmother’s character, which is portrayed as a selfish, cruel, and superior being until the end. Early in the story, we are told that the family is going on vacation to Florida, which the grandmother does not want to go but would rather go to Tennessee to visit family. She tries to convince her son Bailey to change his mind in going to Florida by showing him a section of the paper. “Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people.”(250) she told Bailey.
September 10, 2012 Standing Your Ground in Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” In Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the grandmother is a main character in the story whose moral value is revealed later to be little to none. The grandmother keeps referring herself to being a “lady” even though throughout the story she is very self-centered, and stubborn, wanting things done her way. In the beginning, she is eager to show how she feels against the family taking vacation to Florida. Instead she wants to travel to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee. While traveling, the grandmother is best dressed from head to toe with her collars and cuffs being white organdy trimmed with lace, so in case of an accident she would be seen
The real misfit !! In Flannery O’Connor “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” she identifies hat the fugitative is the misfit although the grandmother is more likely to be the misfit. It seems as like the family doesn't like her, and she is the oldest on the road trip. For instance it says in the story when she tries to tell bailey and the children's mother that is a bad Idea to go to Florida because of the fugitive that is loose going to Florida. When she was trying to tell every one about the fugitive they acted like they couldn’t hear her for instance in the “ The grandmother when she showed her son Bailey the newspaper about the fugitive he just continued to to his reading ignoring the grandmother.
There are several examples of her deceitful and untrustworthy actions. In the beginning of the story, “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida” (O’ Connor 9), so she made up false excuses to try to persuade her family to take her to Tennessee. On the way to Florida, she lied to the children about the secret panel by telling them, “‘There was a secret panel in this house not telling the truth but wishing that she were” (O’ Connor 16,17) so she can get what she wants and visit the old plantation. She also chooses not to reveal that she made a mistake about the location of the house. In addition, the grandmother talks about Jesus with The Misfit when she hopes that it might help save her life.
The grandmother is seen as a good part of the theme but not by her family most of the time. She acts like a good manners kind of lady who has no evil. But her family doesn’t see that as been true. The story starts out when the family is deciding to travel to Florida and the grandmother wanting them to go to Tennessee. The grandmother shows she is good by finally giving in and going with the family to Florida.
Her mom left close to the end of January. I told my kid’s mother that I did not want her going back there with my kids. Just a few weeks before my sons second birthday my kid’s mother told me they were going to her little cousins birthday party that weekend and I was suppose too have the kid’s that weekend. I did not here from her the entire weekend. She called me 5 days later saying they were back in Michigan.